A community chest of treasures
FONTAINEBLEAU – Looking for a place to by thrifty gifts? Charity Store is your place to go.
The Fontainebleau Charity Store has been open for three years and has been a fantastic success in generating income for worthy charities.
The Charity Stores accepts donations of anything that the community or companies would like to donate such as clothing, artwork, bric-a-brac, ornaments, jewellery, furniture, books, bedding, linen, kitchenware, appliances,computers,garden tools and CDs.
Founder, Rober Miller, explained that proceeds from sales first goes to fund the shop rental, electricity, and payment of the volunteer stipends. The surplus funds are then used to support many charities including the FWC Hospice, The Sparrow Ministries, animal projects and various others organisations.
“The community have a place whereby they can purchase quality second-hand or sometimes even new items at low prices,” said Miller.
From time to time a donor may donate something valuable but according to Miller the donor will always be contacted and advised of the valuable item. “The donor then has the option of deciding to take the article back or to let us keep it,” added Miller. Items, to date, that have been returned include a silver antique hair brush set, watches and an antique set of Indian drums dating back to 1890.
Their latest project listed on the website www.thecharitystores.org under membership is looking for people to sign up and donate R100 per month for 12 months.
For every 100 members, they will request members to nominate a charity of their choosing and then request other members to do an onsite inspection. Short-listed charities will be allowed to do a presentation to all members and the winning charity will receive a R100 000 grant
The more signed-up members means more grants will be made available. “Local people will be able to make a difference in their own community,” said Miller.
Details: Robert Miller on robert@thecharitybox.co.za or 0827876997.
